Cooling attachment for dental impression-trays.



No. 637,!23. A Patented Novj 14, I899.

A. m. JACKSON.

COOLING ATTACHMENT FOR DENTAL IMPRESSION TRAYS.

(Application filed Feb. 20, 1899.)

(No Model.)

flwwfaz iwzezmuaaawm 3% A A Q g A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFroE.

ADDIEL M. JACKSON, OF MILLEDGEVILLE, GEORGIA.

COOLING ATTACHMENT FOR DENTAL lMPRESSION-TRAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 637,123, dated November 14, 1899.

Application filed February 2Q, 1899. Serial No. 706,256. (No model.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADDIEL M. J AoKsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milledgeville, in the county of Baldwin and State of Georgia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cooling Attachments for Dental Impression-Trays, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide improved means whereby the modeling compound employed for taking impressions of the mouth may be cooled'or plaster-of-paris made warm.

The ordinary practice among dentists in taking an impression of the mouth of a patient is to employ an impression cup or tray, place the modeling compound which has been softened by heat or otherwise thereupon, and then apply the same to the mouth and hold it in place until the compound has become sufficiently hardened by cooling to retain the position in which it has been molded. This not only requires time, but is inconvenient to the operator and uncomfortable to the patient. Another method is to employ a hollow impression cup or tray through which a stream of water may be passed. This, however, requires speciallyconstructed trays and is objectionable on this account.

In carrying out my invention I use in connection with an ordinary impression cup or tray a cooling attachment which may be readily applied to and thereby held in place upon the handle of the impression-tray, the same consisting of a cooling-chamber through which a stream of Water or other liquid may be caused to flow.

In one form of my invention I form the upper surface of the cooling-chamber of rubher or other flexible material in order that it may conform to and thereby be brought into immediate contact with the exposed surface of the impression-tray.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the cooling attachment. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through an ordinary impression cup or tray with my attachment applied. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of r a modified form of cooling-chamber.

Like reference-numerals indicatelike parts in the different views.

The impression-tray 1 may be of any suit able form and construction, the same being provided with a handle 2 upon its front end and adapted to receive the modeling com pound 3. Myimproved attachment consists of a cooling-chamber 4, having its upper surface shaped in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings to conform to the exposed surface of the impression-tray 1 opposite the modeling compound 3 therein. Said chamber is provided at its front end with nipples 5 6, to which are respectively attached flexible pipes 7 8, the pipe 7 being provided with a bulb 9, by means of whicha current of liquid may be forced through the chamber. The pipe 8 serves as a dischargepipe for the liquid from the chamber. The front end of the chamber t is further provided with a loop 10, through which the handle 2 of the impression-tray may be passed for the purpose of securing said chamber to said tray.

The cooling-chamber illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings is similar in all respects to that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, except that the upper surface ll thereof is formed of soft rubber or other flexible material. If desired, however, the chamber may be made entirely of rubber or other flexible material supported upon a pan-shaped receptacle 12, having openings 13 13 at its front end, through which nipples 14 14 on said bag pass and to which the pipes 7 and 8 are respectively connected.

The operation of my device is as follows: With the modeling compound 3 in a softened condition and the cooling-chamber 4: attached to the impression-tray, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the said tray and chamber are introduced into the mouth of the patient and the impression material carried into position in the usual manner. When this has been done, the bulb 9 is compressed, which forces a stream of cold water or other liquid through the pipe 7 and into the chamber 4, the said water discharging through the pipe 8 in the manner heretofore described. This continuous passage of the cooling agent through the chamber 4 serves, by the contact of the upper surface of said chamber with the under surface of the impression-tray, to cool the modeling material very quickly. It is not necessary, therefore, to keep the impression-tray in the mouth of the patient for any great period of time.

The form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings is in some respects preferable to that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 in that by the use of a flexible upper surface to the cooling-chamber the latter may be caused by the passage of the water through said chamber to lie in close and immediate contact with the exposed surface of the impression-tray, and thereby serve to cool the modeling compound more effectually than Where a close fit between these parts is not obtained.

It is of course understood that dental impression-trays vary in size and shape in order that they may accommodate the mouth of patients of different size and shape, and consequently a well-equipped dentist will have to have a number of such trays. By my invention the cooling-chamber may be attached to any one of such trays, no matter what its size may be, and by the use of the form of my device illustrated in Fig. 3 close contact may be had between the coolingchamber and the modeling compound.

lVhile the present embodiment of my invention is deemed by me to be preferable at this time, I do not care to be limited to the exact construction shown and described, but reserve the right to change, modify, or vary the same at will within the scope of the claims. For example, while the illustration shows an impression-tray and cooling-chamber especially adapted for the upperjaw ofa patient it is obvious that by a simple reversion of parts, with, perhaps, slight changes of form, the same may be adapted for use upon the lower jaw.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. The combination with a dental impression-tray, of a removable cooling attachment therefor.

2. The combination with a dental impression-tray, of a cooling device, and a loop thereon through which the handle of said impression-tray is adapted to be passed.

3. The combination with a dental impression-tray, of a coolingchamber, liquid supply and discharge pipes for said chamber, and means for attaching said chamber to said impression-tray.

4. The combination with a dental impression-tray, of a cooling-chamber, liquid supply and discharge pipes for saidohamber, and a loop on said chamber through which the handle of said tray may be passed.

A cooling-chamber provided with means of attachment to a dental impression-tray, said chamber having a flexible wall.

5. The combination with a dental impression-tray, of a cooling-chamber therefor having a flexible Wall adjacent to said tray, and liquid supply and discharge pipes cominuni= eating with said chamber, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADDIEL M. JACKSON. Witnesses:

K. C. BULLARD, H. S. Jones. 

